Five Hard Truths about Martial Arts that you don’t want to believe.

[ChenPengFi]

Which are facts?

Everything here except for the last sentence:

That's because you have a goal in mind.
If your child has the same inclinations you're more "lucky" than anything.
That the majority of BJJ World Black Belt Division Gold Medal Champions didn't even start until after the age of 12 is significant.
Looking at it any other way is looking at the outliers.
Those same trends appear in all sports.
Can success happen with early specialization?
Of course, but that's the minority of cases in most sports.

And remember team sports are to develop the individual, not make them better at their "goal".
That makes them better athletes/students overall.
There's much to be learned there besides furthering a specific goal and those things pay off later.
That's covering the most bases as is age appropriate.
None of this is my opinion btw, it's pretty settled stuff.

I'm not a fan of ball sports in general either.

This guy started at 14...

[BKR]

I'm sure that happens lots. Did you know Andrew Yuen from Regina? He's done, that's been a couple years now.

No, I have not heard of him. It's really a shame, because it's a lifelong restriction on some activities. Accidents happen, of course, but I think a lot of stuff is preventable.

Way too much randori happens under near-shiai conditions for kids and teens....

[Raycetpfl]

Everything here except for the last sentence:






This guy started at 14...

I don't think that's right. I think he started to take it seriously at 14. I think he trained as a child like Keenan did. I am looking for an interview where he talks about it.

Started at 12, started taking it seriously at around 15. Story starts at 9:20

His size and speed are gifts from the god of war. I am pretty sure his father sacrificed some goats or something for that to be bestowed upon his son.

[Devil]

The whole natural thing...people who do not train (seriously) in sport, or have any coach/training education, are pretty much clueless. People comment about my kids, in fact, were doing so at a Lacrosse game last night being "natural athletes", "gifted athletes", etc. I suppose that's versus their own kids or other kids performance. But like Rhadi's son, they don't see all the nurturing and background that went into their ability to perform. One of the Mom's was saying how my 6th grade son is the envy of all the 8th graders because he does so much better than them in advanced PE class, soccer, and Lacrosse. And her son is a darned good athlete himself at Lacrosse and Soccer, despite being a bit on the pudgy side. Funny thing is, all three kids (my two sons and hers) all play together quite a bit, and all practice Lacrosse together at home (and soccer). And all three are outstanding academically as well...none of them is genetically anywhere near the type that Rhadi's son is, either.

Anyway, as I've outlined already in other posts, what the lay-people don't see is the background that those three and Rhadi's son went through in terms of how they were raised and the level of physical activity they engaged in from toddler age on up. What happens is that once the kids start getting some physical maturity going on, they pretty much seem to explode or come out of nowhere.

So being human, lay people have to have an explanation, and it's "oh, he's a natural". And of course, there ARE some naturals out there, the genetically gifted outliers who are perfect for a given sport, or multiple sports.

I agree completely. I have nothing to add to that.

[Devil]

Everything here except for the last sentence:

Wrong answer. Try again.

You don't know what an opinion is.

[BKR]

Apropos, perhaps...

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/05...l?intcmp=hpbt1

[Devil]

Apropos, perhaps...

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/05...l?intcmp=hpbt1

China is a shit tier country.

[BKR]

I don't think that's right. I think he started to take it seriously at 14. I think he trained as a child like Keenan did. I am looking for an interview where he talks about it.

Started at 12, started taking it seriously at around 15. Story starts at 9:20

His size and speed are gifts from the god of war. I am pretty sure his father sacrificed some goats or something for that to be bestowed upon his son.

That young man could submit most people with his jaw alone...

Seriously, that sort of bone density and structure ARE an example of either genetics and/or some sort of dark magic involving shedding of blood...

[BKR]

China is a shit tier country.

I see what you did there...

[Devil]

Seriously, that sort of bone density and structure ARE an example of either genetics and/or some sort of dark magic involving shedding of blood...

Wrong! Didn't you watch the video? He eats acai. That's the secret.

[ChenPengFi]

I don't think that's right. I think he started to take it seriously at 14. I think he trained as a child like Keenan did. I am looking for an interview where he talks about it.

Started at 12, started taking it seriously at around 15. Story starts at 9:20

His size and speed are gifts from the god of war. I am pretty sure his father sacrificed some goats or something for that to be bestowed upon his son.

Was just going off of this

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu only came into “Buchecha’s” life in his mid teens. He was 14 years old when his sister first started training BJJ. Marcus’s father, Mr Cleiton Almeida, was very protective of his daughter, and started accompanying her to class. With time Mr Cleiton started practising himself, and from there it wasn’t long until he was dragging his son Marcus with him. Luckily young Marcus loved Jiu Jitsu from the start and started training every chance he could.

http://www.bjjheroes.com/bjj-fighter...meida-buchecha

He said '02-3 in the Stuart Cooper bio which would have been 12-13...

In any event he followed exactly the path BKR mentioned, and what I've been talking about.
He even had soccer aspirations first.

[BKR]

Wrong! Didn't you watch the video? He eats acai. That's the secret.

I've eaten acai and drank the juice (which resembles blood).

It's a fine laxative, I can tell you that.

[Devil]

So what I've learned from this thread is that playing soccer is how you become a great fighter. Makes sense.

I actually have thought it would be awesome to get my boy into hip hop dance lessons so he learns to move like teh black folk. He would rather die a slow and painful death though, I'm quite sure. So sure I haven't even mentioned it.

[BKR]

There are multiple paths to excellence in sport, be it recreational, elite, or somewhere in between. However, I think that on average, the LTAD model I've posted is the best researched and documented.

There are for sure variations on the theme that are viable.

And there are outliers that will just bypass all that.

Hard (and smart) work are going to be necessary in any case.

Giving an example from my own experience. I've got teens in my judo class who started judo when they were 7 or 8 years old. They have done judo continuously since then, with breaks in the summer. They also play other sport...soccer, basketball, figure skating, volleyball, biking, hiking, etc. But they did keep up with Judo over the years. No cross training, but it's a very rural and fairly isolated area without a lot of options (kung fu, aikido, and karate). So no wrestling program, BJJ (until recently, in my town 35 miles south of them, or 45-50 miles to the east.

So, there you go. Doing one primary sport but cross-training in non-combat sports, resulted in strong, healthy kids who all qualified for nationals (3 their first go at it) this year. I am hoping they will come down and do BJJ at the local academy as well.

One of the two guys that earned his black belt is now 23 years old. He started judo at 6, played soccer a lot, got his shodan at 18 years old. His buddy is a year younger and started Judo at 8 or 9 years old, got his shodan at the same time. 10-11 years in, judo except in summers.

Seems like a reasonable path to follow.

[Raycetpfl]

Wrong answer. Try again.

You don't know what an opinion is.

So what I've learned from this thread is that playing soccer is how you become a great fighter. Makes sense.

I actually have thought it would be awesome to get my boy into hip hop dance lessons so he learns to move like teh black folk. He would rather die a slow and painful death though, I'm quite sure. So sure I haven't even mentioned it.

Maybe you should introduce him to the young ladies that take those classes. It should be an easy sell after that.